The belt-fed machine gun is a type of weapon system commonly used by military forces. Common types of machine guns currently used by U.S. and NATO forces include the M240 and M2HB. Typically, most conventional machine guns have been designed and manufactured for specific tasks and combat applications, with the result being that the guns are limited to use with only specific calibers and/or types of ammunition. For example, the M240 machine gun is ordinarily manufactured for use with 7.62 mm ammunition, while the M2HB machine gun is ordinarily manufactured for use with .50bmg caliber ammunition.
Due to increasing demands on the capabilities of combat units and constantly evolving threats, there is increasing need for a machine gun that can be modified to fire different types of ammunition and to be easily reconfigured for use with different caliber rounds.
Contemporaneously, combat forces have recognized limitations between firearms that fire the 7.62 mm round and firearms that fire the .50bmg caliber round, particularly among U.S. and NATO forces currently engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere. These limitations, for example, in the sniper rifle type firearms, consisted of the relatively heavier weight of the .50bmg rifle round and the relative shorter range and target impact of the 7.62 mm rifle round. One solution to these contrasting features was the implementation of a sniper rifle using the .338 Lapua Magnum caliber round, which was introduced for sniper rifles to provide long-range capability and accuracy in a sniper rifle beyond the effective range of the .50bmg caliber round—usually 1,000 to 2,000 yards—while weighing half of the weight of a .50bmg caliber round.
This same dilemma is present in existing belt-fed machine guns. The M240 machine gun, designed to fire 7.62 mm rounds, can weigh approximately 27 pounds. The M2HB machine gun, designed to fire .50bmg caliber rounds, can weigh over 100 pounds, requiring it to be a mounted and crew-served weapon system. At present, there is no machine gun that can fire the .338 Lapua Magnum caliber round using disintegrating links, such as are used in the M240 machine gun, and no man-portable machine gun with the long-distance range and target impact of the M2HB.
Moreover, there is, at present, no such machine gun that offers the ability to interchangeably fire the 7.62 mm round and the .338 Lapua Magnum caliber round. Typical issue ammunition for combat infantry soldiers includes linked 7.62 mm rounds for use in M240 and MK48 machine guns, which rounds are carried both by individual soldiers as well as in transport vehicles such as the HMMV and Armored Personnel Carrier. .338 Lapua Magnum ammunition is not typically issued to normal combat infantry soldiers. Thus, if a soldier equipped with a .338 Lapua Magnum caliber weapon were to run out of ammunition, the soldier could not employ the relatively abundant supply of 7.62 mm rounds to use in the weapon manufactured for firing only .338 Lapua Magnum caliber ammunition.
Finally, there is, at present, no multi-caliber, modular machine gun that integrates a quick takedown system whereby rapid reconfiguration from firing .338 Lapua Magnum caliber ammunition to firing 7.62 mm ammunition is possible in combat conditions and with no tools. A multi-caliber machine gun must be quickly and easily configurable as needed to fit the soldier's particular needs or for use in a particular combat situation.
It therefore can be seen that a heretofore unmet need exists for a modular multi-caliber belt-fed machine gun that addresses the foregoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.